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Wednesday, July 30, 2008

As I was passing the elephants, I suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not.

I saw a trainer near by and asked why these beautiful, magnificent animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. "Well," he said, "when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it's enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away.

They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free." I was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn't, they were stuck right where they were.

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before?

It's something that strikes me from time to time, although maybe not in this particular way. There's so much we could do, so much we want to do, but don't because we're conditioned not to do them, or not to even think about it.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

So I checked the BBC and CNN sites to see what, if anything, they had to say about yesterday's fiasco. Turns out the CNN only talks about the government winning a crucial vote and how this could impact the nuclear deal. BBC, on the other hand, does mention the entire drama enacted by the BJP and reactions to it.

I haven't blogged in more than a month, and I really have no excuse other than a lack of effort. I have added yet another widget to my left sidebar, so you may take a look if you wish to do so.

Yesterday was an interesting day, for lack of a better word. For those not in the know, if there is any political stand I do hold, it is simply this: anti-BJP. And my disgust with that party grew tenfold yesterday.

Forget the fact that they were behaving like brattish school children with the way they were constantly interrupting various speeches and not letting Members speak. The entire drama they enacted with bringing money into the well of the House waving it about like frenzied idiots was absolutely sickening to see.

Let's accept for a while that their allegations are true - which I by no means do, if for no other reason than the facts that a) I'm biased, and b) I'd like to see some proof before I make up my mind. If the allegations are true, why couldn't those three MPs go the media or the Speaker (because I'm fairly sure going to the police, as Amar Singh suggested, is something no politician would ever do) as soon as it first happened? Why wait till an hour before the PM's speech, and 90 minutes before the actual vote?

I caught some of the speeches in the evening, including Omar Abdullah's absolutely brilliant speech. I had to go out after that, so i missed the whole part about the PM not being allowed to give his reply and therefore laying the text on the table, but I did read it this morning, and think it was pretty darn decent. I do wish our Prime Minister had more of a personality, however. His speech could be greatest thing since sliced bread, but one would never be able to tell because his delivery is usually so very... flat.

Another person I wish had better delivery is Rahul Gandhi. I caught his speech on the news channels at night, and while I appreciate most of what he said, including his responses to the idiots in the Opposition and the Speaker, his way of speaking was not that great. Omar Abdullah, on the other hand, was impassioned, furious, had conviction in his voice, and was just... brilliant.

While watching the news, I also happened to catch Rajdeep Sardesai on Cnn-IBN talking about the tapes he has and his statement that he is not part of any "larger political battle" and his decision to not telecast the tapes but instead hand them over to the Speaker. I admire his decision and all that, but I want to know what those tapes show.

I still hate the BJP though. And I'm extremely relieved the Congress is still in power. if only for another six months. And I really wonder what is going to happen to this country of ours.

C'est moi

People who think they know me would say I'm one of the nicest, warmest, most helpful, blah blah blah persons around... People who actually know me would tell you I'm slightly neurotic, with too many idiosyncrasies for my own good.